Orion completed a perfect run through Kewanee’s fifth annual Martin Luther King girls basketball tournament with a 47-43 win over Freeport Monday afternoon.

Peoria Manual earned third place by topping the host Boiler Girls 48-34 in Monday’s varsity finale.

Orion finished 3-0 in the tourney, followed by Freeport 2-1, Peoria Manual 1-2 and Kewanee 0-3.

Peoria Manual 48, Kewanee 34

The Boiler Girls led 11-10 after the first quarter in the third-place game, but turnovers and offensive doldrums doomed the hosts.

Marissa Simms drilled consecutive 3-pointers for Manual to open the second quarter and put the Lady Rams on top 16-11.

Kewanee nearly went scoreless in the quarter, but in the final 30 seconds Eusebia Quintero hit a pair of free throws and Raeshonda Chandler scored on a breakaway to pull the Boiler Girls within 22-15 at the half.

“Turnovers and we just started to play flat,” said Kewanee coach Chuck Blake of his team’s second- quarter spiral. “They are a very quick team and we didn’t adjust very well to it.”

“Coach (Frank Tocha) likes to use the term anticipate — if you react to something you’re too late. I don’t think we anticipated,” said Blake.

Manual continued to extend the lead in the third quarter, pushing it to 12 points on two occasions before settling for a 37-29 edge going into the final frame.

The Boiler Girls couldn’t muster a rally in the fourth quarter, managing just five points to finish 0-3 in the tourney and fall to 12-14 on the season.

“In this tournament we were holding teams in the 40s, but we just can’t generate enough offense to stay in the ballgame,” said Blake. “We just need a few more points, but we just can’t find them.”

The Boiler Girls have three more Three Rivers Conference games before hosting a Class 2A regional including Peoria Christian, Farmington, Knoxville and Spoon River Valley.

“I told them to think about what they want out of the season,” said Blake. “If you want to win, we still have opportunities.”

Boiler Girls fall to Orion, Freeport

Kewanee dropped its opening two MLK tourney games Saturday — 40-34 to Orion and 66-53 to Freeport.

The Lady Chargers jumped on the Boiler Girls early, building leads of 12-2 at the quarter and 23-11 at halftime. The Boiler Girls pulled within single digits in the fourth quarter, but couldn't finish the rally.